Fourth International, June 1942

International Notes

From Fourth International, vol.3 No.6, June 1942, p.191.
Transcribed, Edited & Formatted by Ted Crawford & David Walters in 2008 for the ETOL.

Switzerland

From Switzerland comes the news that three Swiss members of the Fourth International have been imprisoned recently. Several members of the leadership of the Swiss section of the Fourth International had already been arrested at the outbreak of the war. The Swiss bourgeoisie, which makes huge profits out of the war, never forgets the struggle against its own workers.

France

News from France received since Laval came to power describes the expansion of police measures. The situation is becoming more and more difficult for the revolutionary organizations. Two members of the Parti Ouvrier Internationaliste (French section of the Fourth International) have been arrested in Paris recently. The leadership works under Increasingly difficult conditions. The food situation has also been exteremely aggravated In recent months.

NOTE: Since the above was written, three other members of the French party have been arrested in the Nazi-occupied zone.

England

The following is an excerpt from a letter from an English Trotskyist, member of the Workers’ International League:

You will have heard, no doubt, of the recent strikes among the dockers and miners here. In every case they have been solid despite both their official leadership and the Stalinists who in the past had taken the lead on the job. It is funny to see the actions of the Stalinists in such situations. They remain quite dead where they don’t carry out direct strike-breaking activities. The latter Is more frequent that the former.

So far as I can see from the reports, the ILP leadership is completely finished, they are hopeless on the question of the Soviet Union and the attitude towards war. They give Stalin the benefit for the development of the USSR! Their policy is completely opportunist (they are calling for a “Socialist Britain now,” but still retain C.A. Smith who supports the war, and other elements who are working full time as Chauvinists).

The field is very favorable to us for development. Sales of material are very good. For example on the Merseyside with only eight comrades we sell 1,000 copies of Socialist Appeal and with more time we could easily increase this to 2,000 or more. But we must work like hell to educate our comrades and friends, only in this way will we win the battle.

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